Why are Argentines so arrogant???

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Just Joined

OK I’m new to this website and just thought this would be an interesting subject for discussion… I’m an Argentine living in Buenos Aires and can’t help but notice the arrogance of my fellow countrymen. Everyone here is always bragging about how they are better at this or that…
According to the average Argentine:
-We have the best landscapes/women/food etc in the world.
-We are the smartest people on Earth. We are so smart that we can cheat, lie, steal and get away with it (known as “viveza criolla”).
-We are always right. Foreigners are wrong.
-All expats in Argentina should worship the Argentine culture. Otherwise, they must shut up and go back to their countries.
-No-one should ever criticize us. We are perfect.
-God is Argentine………………
I could go on for ages. Still, many locals deny this and say that Argentines are not arrogant at all. They say it’s the expats who criticize that are arrogant. Shame on them…

Veteran

Did you forget to mention that you are an Argentine that spent the majority of his life outside of Argentina?People of all nationalities have their arrogance and since this is a forum made up mostly of Americans you have really really come to the wrong place to discuss this matter cause what you are doing sorta equals asking people in glass houses to throw rocks.

Active Member

I'm not sure if Argentines are so much arrogant as encouraged to be PROUD of their country and eager to show that pride. My guess is that this attitude is something that's being taught to them at an early age and reinforced over time as there's an odd way in which so many people in different parts of the country will say exactly the same things and are so sensitive to the slightest criticism.
And yes, all countries and people have these traits to a varying degree and Argentines certainly aren't the worst for this.

Member

To me Argentines seem to be both extremely arrogant and proud while at the same time extremely insecure. It is as if on the one hand they think that Argentina is the best country in the world, has the best food, best women, best climate...etc. but on the other hand they spend half their lives trying to convince themselves that they are European (although Europeans would deny this) while all the while talking about how much they hate the U.S. then, when given the first opportunity to leave, they jump ship headed for the U.S. or Europe and never look back. To me it seems kind of crazy and ridiculous but this is the charm of Argentine people. They seem to me to be like the inhabitants of a great empire after it crumbles. The dignity and majesty of the idealized past co-exist with the envy, shame, and deceit of the present. I am in no way saying that they are any better or worse than anyone else in the world. We are all pretty ridiculous (most established religions acknowledge this fact). Most of my travel experience has been in Europe, the Americas, and the Caribbean and so far I would caracterize Europe as being the land of the "pseudo intellectual", the U.S. as the land of the "anti-intellectual", and Argentina as the land of the "wannabe". The Argentine is absolutely positive that he/she is the most fabulous human specimen on the face of the Earth but when they "grow up" they want to be somebody else. Somebody "better".

Member

Some people feel that any point of view other than their own is, by definition , lacking in intelligence. Suprisingly many of them find themselves in Buenos Aires and other places around the world because their home countries won't have them. I think that a more interesting question than the one posed above might be why it that these people feel the need to leave their countries of origin and branch out in an attempt to annoy the world at large?

Veteran

I have found great people in this city Buenos Aires and I do not agree that it is worse than other places. In general I find Porteños helpful and reasonably pleasant,.
I suggest to many of you that are lost in the city streets here will notice that local people go out of their way to help you find your place here.
This is a city of 13 million people and for this size people get on with their lives very rarely intruding into yours and overall accepting all these different nationalities withour fear of favour.

I think that a more interesting question than the one posed above might be why it that these people feel the need to leave their countries of origin and branch out in an attempt to annoy the world at large?

And asked :/ Your not making much progress here, this answer of yours was hardly any more intelligent than your previous one but go ahead make yet another. I personally will however not answer anything more written in this thread.

P

Paul_NL

Guest

Just Joined

Did you forget to mention that you are an Argentine that spent the majority of his life outside of Argentina?
People of all nationalities have their arrogance and since this is a forum made up mostly of Americans you have really really come to the wrong place to discuss this matter cause what you are doing sorta equals asking people in glass houses to throw rocks.

Empanada,
I think you're a little confused. I was born and raised in Argentina, and though I've traveled a lot, I've never lived anywhere else.
Yes, you can find arrogance everywhere. However, from my own experience (and I've met people from many different nationalities), we Argentines are by far the most arrogant. Humbleness is certainly not among our virtues. But some people are so in denial that they will do anything to hide the truth... Like attacking another nationality in an attempt to silence any unflattering comments about themselves... Your lack of self-criticism just proves my point...